Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-10-22
u the use Of keeping HIM"
She said nothing, but kept looking at him

She said nothing, but kept looking at him
In way that was AS shy rs it was sweet.
Then at last he understood.
Forgive me, Nylepthn." he said, rather
TREMENDOUSLY, "dost thou mean that thou wilt
marry me. even now"
NAY, know not: let my lord say" was
her rapid answer. but II my lord wills, the
priest is there and the altar is there'-point-
ing u the entrance tn a private chap.l-"and
am ! not ready to do the will Of my lord.
Listen, oh my lord, in eight days or less thou
must leave me and 60 down TO war, for thou
shalt lead my armies-and in war, men some
times fall, and If 50, would for little space
have had thee all my own, If only for MEM
ory's sake" and the tears overilowed her
lovely eyes and rolled down her face like
heavy drops Of dew down the red heart Of a
rose.
.sMaybap, too she went on. Il shall lose
my crown, and with my crown my life and
thine also. Sorais is very strong and very
bitter. and if she prevails she will not spare.
Who can read the future: Happiness is the
worlds white bird. that alights seldom, and
flies fast and far till one day he is lost in the
clouds Therefore should We hold him fast il
by any chance he rests for a little space upon
our hand. II IL not wise to neglect the
present for the future. for who knows what
the future will I've, Incubu, Let us pluck our
flowers while the dew is on them, for when
the sun is up they wither. and on the morrow
will others bloom that we shall never see."
And she lifted her sweet face to him and
smiled into his ewes, and once more l felt a
horrible pang OF jealousy. and turned and
went away. They never took much notice Of
whether | was there or not. thinking, l sup
pose. that ! WIS an old fool. and that il did
not matter one way or the other, and really
believe they were right.
So I went back to our quarters, and rumi-
mated over things in general. and watched old
Umslopogaas whetting his Ak outside tine
window as = vuiture whets his beak beside a
dying ux.
And in about an hours time Sir Henry
came tearing over, looking very radiant and
wildly excited, and found Good and myself,
and even umslopogaas, and asked us il We
should like to assist at real wedding. or
course said Yes, and of we went to the
chapel. where we found Agon looking as
sulky as any high priest possibly could; and
no wonder. 1t appeared that lie and Nylep-
tina had had a slight difference Of opinion
about the coming ceremony. He had fatty
refused TO celebrate II, or to allow any Of his
priests to do so, whereupon Nyleptha became
very angry, and told him that she, as queen,
was head Of the church. and meant to be
obeyed. Indeed, she played the part Of O
Zu-Vendi Henry VIII to perfection, and in
sisted that il she wanted to he married she
would be married, and he should marry her.
He still refused TO go through the cere-
mony, so she clinched her argument thus:
"Well, l cannot execute a high priest, be
cause there is an absurd prejudice against it,
and cannot imprison him, because all his
subordinates would raise a crying that would
bring the stars down on Zu-Vends and crush
it, but can leave him to contemplate the
altar Of the Sun without anything to eat, be
cause that is his natural vocation; and il
thou wilt not marry me, o Agoni thou shalt
be placed before the altar yonder, with
naught but a lite water till such time a.
thou hast reconsidered the matter
Now, as it happened, ASon had been hur-
ried away that morning without his break
fast, and was already exceedingly hungry, 50
he presently modified his views and consented
to marry them. saving Rt the same time that
he washed his LANDS OF all responsibility in
the meter.
So it happened that presently, attended
only by two OF her favorite maidens, came
the Queen Nyleptha, with happy blushing
face and downcast eyes, dressed in pure
white, without embroidery Of any sort, as
seems to he the fashion Oh these occasions in
most countries of the world She did not
wear a single ornament, even her gold circlets
were removed, and thought that if possible
she looked more lovely than ever without
them, as really superbly beautiful womcn do
She came, courtesied low to Sir Henry, and
then took his hand and led him up before the
altar, and after little pause, in a slow, clear
voice uttered the following words. which are
customary in Zu. Vendis il the bride desires
and the man consents:
Thou dost swear by the Sun that thou wilt
take no other woman to wife unless lay my
hand upon her and bid her Conner
Il swear it," added Sir Henry, adding in
English, "One is quite enough for me-"
Then Agon, who had been suiking in a corner
near the altar, came forward and gabbled of
something into his beard at such rate that
could not follow it, but it appeared to be an
invocation to the Sun to bless the union and
make it fruitful. / observed that Nyleptha
listened very closely to every word, and after
ward discovered that she was afraid lest
Agon should play her a trick, and by going
luIUuSu Tue DdCkWaEu
instead OF marry them At the end Of the
invocations they were asked as in our serv-
Ice, if they took each other for husband and
wife, and on their assenting, they kissed each
other before the altar and the service was
over, 50 far as their rites were concerned
But it seemed to me that there was Vet some
thing wanting, and 80 produced a prayer
book, which has, together with the "lngoids
by Legends that i often read when lie
awake at night, accompanied me in all my
later wanderings. l gave it to my poor boy
Harry years ago, and after his death l found
it among his things and took it back again
Curtis" SAID, Il am not a clergyman,
md do not know if what am going to pro-
pose is allowable know it is not legel-but
il you and the queen have no objection, l
should like to read the English marriage
service over you. It is a solemn step which
you are taking, and think that you ought,
rs far as circumstances will allow. to give it
the sanction Of your own religion"
Il have thought Of that" he said, "and
wish you would. l do not feel half married
yet"
Nyleptha ra sed no objection. fully under
that her husband wished to celebrate
the marriage according TO the rites prevail
Ing In his own country, and so set to worh
md read the service from "Dearly beloveSv
70 "anazemeni," Us well as I could; and when |
came 10 Il. Henry. take thee, Nyleptha,'
and also Il, Nyleptha. take thee,
Henry" which she repeated after me very |
we'll. Then Sir Henry took plain gold ring
rom his little fingcr-and placed it OH hers, |
md so on TO the end. The ring had been |
Curtis mothers wedding ring. and could |
not help thinking how astonishei tine dear
I'D Yorkshire lady would have been if she